Applaud Cuts to Higher Education in Florida

The State University system is complaining about the massive cuts proposed in the House version of the budget. It’s time to applaud House Speaker Cretul (R-Gainesville) for insisting that any deal with the Senate include the cuts to higher education. After all, what good is higher education when the state is suffering through an economic crisis?

It’s naïve to think that an educated populace can lead Florida out of this budgetary mess. It’s silly to believe that we need higher education in a state where the three largest industries are tourism, agriculture and mining. How much of an education does it require to put on a Mickey Mouse outfit and parade around Disneyworld to the delight of educated children from other states? Do we really need college graduates to work the parking lots of Universal Studios and Seaworld? Agriculture has been practiced by humans for millennia and certainly those who developed the citrus and strawberry industries in the state required no formal education. Just plant the tree, wait and in a few months you’ve got your crop. Mining? It’s pretty simple to dig up phosphate and put it in a dump truck. No intelligence needed.

It took great foresight and courage for the House to take monies from education in an effort to solve our current budgetary crisis. If we need a few leaders for business, we can get them from some other states that foolishly think that an educated populace is a good idea. The medical, scientific and legal community can get their leaders from other states as well. After all, Florida is a great melting pot. We don’t need to bother with education when educated people are going to move here anyway. I’m sure when they realize that they won’t have to pay taxes for education, that will make our state even more attractive.

I’m tired of hearing about the ‘brain-drain’ blamed on cuts to higher education. If those ‘perfessors’ had real brains, then they never would have come to Florida in the first place. We don’t need their research funding or their discoveries. We certainly don’t need the best of the best to educate our students because we really don’t need education. Our doctors, lawyers, scientists etc can be brought in from other states. We can supply them with support staff who can be trained on the job. I say, let academia in Florida rot away. It’s not the business of our state to support education, it’s the business of our state to support the big three industries, increase our tax base and play host to the educated people from elsewhere in the US. They don't want smart tour guides, they want guides who can make silly jokes and make the tourists feel smart.

Water issues? In Florida? We’re surrounded by water on three sides!! How can we possibly have water issues in Florida? Why do we need high tech industry in Florida? Isn’t that what silicon valley is all about? One needs only look at the problems in California to realize that high tech is not a solution to our problem. In fact, I’m not at all convinced that we need to fund K-12 education either. A 6th grade education should be good enough. Just teach our kids the basics of readin’, writin’ and arithmetic and turn them loose into the workforce. Any education beyond the 6th grade is really just a preparation for higher education and I think it’s clear Florida can do without higher education.

Call or write your legislator and tell them that “Floridian’s don’t need no stinkin’ education”. We’re already near the bottom in support for education, with this push by the House we can reach that goal and move on to more important things like football and basketball championships.